Historically, many scientists have regarded itching as just a less intense version of pain. They have spent decades searching for itch-specific nerve cells to explain how the brain perceives itch differently from pain, but none have been found.
Now School of Medicine researchers have discovered that those itch-specific neurons do exist in mice, and their studies suggest that itch and pain signals are transmitted along different pathways in the spinal cord.
Reporting in the Aug. 6 issue of Science Express, the advance online publication of the journal Science, the researchers say they can knock out an animal's itch response without affecting its ability to sense and attempt to avoid pain.
"This finding has very important therapeutic implications," said principal investigator Zhou-Feng Chen, Ph.D., associate professor of anesthesiology, of psychiatry and of developmental biology.
Now School of Medicine researchers have discovered that those itch-specific neurons do exist in mice, and their studies suggest that itch and pain signals are transmitted along different pathways in the spinal cord.
Reporting in the Aug. 6 issue of Science Express, the advance online publication of the journal Science, the researchers say they can knock out an animal's itch response without affecting its ability to sense and attempt to avoid pain.
"This finding has very important therapeutic implications," said principal investigator Zhou-Feng Chen, Ph.D., associate professor of anesthesiology, of psychiatry and of developmental biology.
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